Billed by HP as the "ultimate productivity device with the power of a PC," the Elite x3 is the company's umpteenth try at cracking mobile after failing with the webOS-powered Palm Pre many moons ago and switching to Android for two massive phablets that were made just for India.

The Elite x3 is a huge smartphone. The company minced no words calling it a phablet designed to fill the shoes of a smartphone, tablet and laptop. The screen measures 5.96 inches and has a 2,560 x 1,440 (QuadHD) resolution; it's made from durable Corning Gorilla Glass 4 and there's an anti-reflective coating. The prototype unit that I checked out looked crisp and bright.

Though it's not made of metal, the plastic construction still felt solid. HP says the Elite x3 is IP67 water and dust resistant, which means it can be submerged in three feet of water for up to 30 minutes. The buttons on the sides were a little mushy for my taste, but again, I handled a prototype unit so they could change when the phone's released this summer.

Powering Windows 10 Mobile is Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 820 processor and 4GB of RAM. Microsoft's mobile operating system was buttery smooth, but that's not saying much since the OS doesn't need high-performance specs to fly.

Continuum, the feature in Windows 10 Mobile that adapts apps to any screen size, was noticeably faster and more responsive when docked to the Desk Dock (basically a more elegant version of Microsoft's own Display Dock) and connected to a monitor.

Image: Raymond Wong/Mashable

The phone comes with 64GB of internal storage and also has a microSD card slot to expand the storage up to 2TB. Although there aren't any cards with this capacity available yet, when there are, the Elite x3 will be ready. For businesses, a device that is future-proof is an important feature as devices aren't replaced frequently.

Most impressive is the battery HP managed to stuff inside: a 4,150mAh battery. For comparison, other phablets such as iPhone 6S Plus and Galaxy Note 5 only have 2,750 mAh and 3,000 mAh, respectively. Even Motorola's Droid Maxx 2 and its "huge" 3,630 mAh battery doesn't compare. HP didn't provide specific hour figures, but says it will last at least 24 hours of full work use (note: not gaming and Snapchatting all day long; think lots and lots of emails and texting).

Image: Raymond Wong/Mashable

The backside has a 16-megapixel camera with an LED flash and the front has an 8-megapixel camera. HP says the front camera renders two pictures during Skype video calls; video quality is said to be better especially in low-light situations.

Audio tuned by Bang & Olfusen

Image: Raymond Wong/Mashable

As with most of HP's computers, Bang & Olufsen engineered the audio. While I didn't get a thorough listen, the dual-front facing speakers contained in the single speaker grille below the screen sounded good even at high volume levels.

HP says the phone will come with a fingerprint sensor and an iris scanner for extra security, but the demo units didn't have those features.

Image: Raymond Wong/Mashable

Accompanying the Elite x3 is the Mobile Extender. The clamshell device is essentially a laptop with a 12.5-inch screen and keyboard sans a processor and other computer components. The Elite x3 connects to the Mobile Extender wirelessly and powers it. Leave the Elite x3 in your bag and the Extender will function like a desktop PC experience using the power of Continuum.

HP hasn't announced pricing for the Elite x3 or any of its accessories. So far, the hardware looks solid and Continuum is more thought through with the Desk Dock and Mobile Extender, but will the trio of devices be enough to save Microsoft's mobile operating system? We'll have to wait and see.

The Elite x3 has a USB-C port.

Image: Raymond Wong/Mashable

The Mobile Extender is basically a laptop shell without any computer components; it's powered by the Elite x3.

Mashable
is a global, multi-platform media and entertainment company. Powered by its own proprietary technology, Mashable is the go-to source for tech, digital culture and entertainment content for its dedicated and influential audience around the globe.